Man arrested in shooting death of dog at Ohio park
CINCINNATI – A man accused of using a stun gun on a pit bull that fought with his dog and then fatally shooting it at a public park where there were children has been arrested, police said Wednesday.
Robert Marx appeared in Hamilton County Justice Court Wednesday on charges of knowingly shooting a gun within city limits and criminal damaging. Convictions on both counts would carry a maximum of nine months in jail.
The 74-year-old Marx, who was released on bond and placed on electronic monitoring, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday. He did not have an attorney.
Kaitlynn Hornsby and Silas Parker, the Cincinnati couple who owned the dog that was killed, a 1-year-old named Bruski, went to Marx’s court hearing and asked that he not be allowed out on bond because they’re afraid of him.
The judge turned them down but ordered Marx, who also lives in Cincinnati, to stay away from the dog park and from Hornsby and Parker.
Hornsby described Bruski as a lovable “big baby.” She said Bruski was just being playful with Marx’s medium-sized, long-haired dog on Tuesday when the other dog bit him.
Hornsby said that Bruski then bit into the other dog’s fur, locking his jaw.
She and other witnesses told police that Marx then used a stun gun on Bruski and shot him with a 9mm gun within a matter of seconds.
“He didn’t even give me a chance to break up the fight,” said Hornsby, 18. “I was bawling my eyes out, and I was telling him I was going to call the cops, and he laughed. He just kept laughing.”
Hornsby said she just missed being shot because she was kneeling down and grabbing Bruski’s harness when Marx fired the gun.
“He put my life in danger,” she said.
Marx was arrested because of witness statements that his dog was the aggressor and that he fired his gun in a very public place before anyone had the chance to break up the dog fight, police Sgt. Julian Johnson said.
“There was a lot of people at the park,” including children, Johnson said. “That endangers everybody.”
Police seized Marx’s gun and his concealed-weapons permit.